News Sense: The Building Blocks of News

Course Overview

This $29.95 course is free thanks to the support of the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation.

Time Estimate:

News Sense takes about an hour to complete.

About Self-Directed Courses

In a self-directed course, you can start and stop whenever you like, progressing entirely at your own pace and going back as many times as you want to review the material.

News Sense explores the basic building blocks of news stories. You’ll examine the who, what, when, where, why and how of events and see how the answers to those questions shape news coverage.

We'll give you readings, examples, games and exercises to help you develop the mindset to begin reporting and writing the news. We hope this course sparks your interest in learning more about the craft of newswriting and the world of journalism past, present and future.

What Will I Learn:

Upon completing this course, you will be able to:

Judge the newsworthiness of stories

Verify facts using multiple sources

Clarify information for yourself, readers and viewers

Build a strong foundation for any news story

Who should take this course:

Anyone who wants to understand the building blocks of the news and how journalists use these building blocks.